Something to smile about

Sometimes, you just need to shake things up. Like today… When I got home from work, I walked into the kitchen, looked around and said, “Sarah, you need to shake things up a little!” I went into my tiny, portable home office area–the living room couch and a tv tray– packed up the whole shebang, and moved it into my dining area. Let’s be real: I am single and eat alone. Why do I really need to leave my dining table dusty and empty when I can turn it into the office that I so desperately need?

I needed to plug in my computer, but to get to the outlet in the dining area, I had to move a stack of boxes. I didn’t intend to waste a bunch of extra time going through the boxes. But when I was moving the last box back to the storage room, I dropped it. It was a 20-year-old box and so it split, the tape ripped away, and the guts of the box gushed across my kitchen floor. As I tried to pull it all back together, I saw a clear, plastic box full of pictures. Momentarily ignoring the mess, I stood in the middle of my kitchen and flipped through them, delighted. My 6th grade field trip to the NC Zoo in Asheboro. My Dad’s graduation from seminary. Christmases. Birthdays. Baptisms. Weddings.

My friend, Joell, made a comment this week about how as her children get older, she looks back on their lives and can only remember the good parts. “Selective memory” she called it. For the past 31 years, I’ve found myself with the opposite problem. The painful things have always seemed the most poignant. Instead of remembering joy, laughter and smiles, I’ve been remembering the scraped knees, the black eyes, the busted noses, and the broken hearts.

Sometimes God has to break the box so that we can get the stuff that’s inside to come out. As I flipped through the pictures today, I noticed something. In every single picture of me, I’m smiling. Not just a painted-on, plastic, fake smile. But a real, chipmunk-cheeked, show-your-teeth, bright-eyed smile! I was gripped with gratitude over how God has blessed me. The pictures prove to me that in the midst of some very real, piercing, wrenching personal traumas, God gave me reasons to smile. And today, He gave me a boxful of snapshots to remind me of how good LIFE is.

Comments

What a precious (and unexpected!) reminder the Lord provided you with there! Selective memory might also be defined for me as DENIAL! LOL. But it works for me. I love the sweet pic…I have a thing for black and white pictures. Thanks for the shout out…love you!

When I was 13 years old, I stumbled across my friend, Corie, writing a letter. When I asked Corie what she was doing, she responded, “Writing a letter to Daddy God.” Those six words changed my life. And ever since, no matter where life has taken me, I’ve had a journal within arm’s reach. In March of 2009, I began to share my thoughts and lessons and prayers with you. And so, here we are. By day, I’m an administrative assistant, freelance writer and editor. I blog here at Living Between the Lines, while simultaneously living outside lines. I’m originally from the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. Today, I happily make my home in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. Join me between the lines. You’re welcome and safe within them.